What's the farm doing?I feel like we only have one pace: crazy. HA.We have a bunch of different projects going on right now: - Fertilising the Lamyai Orchard - Cutting the endless grass (thank goodness rainy season is almost over) - Building Nakong's house - Weeding and fertilising our 10,000 pineapple plant (yikes) - Starting on our house and extra accomodation - Building a new pig pen with a more secure free range area - John is going to a attend a Natural Agriculture Workshop - I (Heidi) is going to attend an Avocado Tree Workshop in Chiang MaiSo things are busy and we are juggling a bunch of jobs, but the place is looking better all the time.

The boysSo the boys are doing mostly ok. We had to send one home for a few weeks for some attitude adjustment. It worked and it didn't. He came back worse, but after a few chats it looks like he will do anything to not go back home. We are trying to encourage open communication, and are really focussing on the whole "truth is good" aspect. Right now its more like "I'll tell you whatever comes into my head first". It has been a hard road, and has been tough on John and my relationship, but we are working through things and know that God is in control. I have been introducing "forced fun" activities to encourage FUN outside the farm. We have taken them tandem bicycling, to sunset picnics, had some fun BBQ's and even taken them to a friend's birthday party. I really love these times, and I'm hoping everyone else will build stronger relationships and start to feel more like a family as time goes on.

Earth HomeNakong's house is our second attempt at an earth home. We really wanted to try an Earth Ship, but after getting the advice of a few people who have tried sustainable building, we opted with an easier structure that uses much less labour. The house has cement posts, steel roof frames and large roof tiles. For the walls we are using bamboo, glass bottles and mud with steel inner supports (see pics). So the overall structure is incredibly strong, durable and will maintain a cool interior during the hot summers here. That's the plan anyway. so far so good though!

Other newsWe are looking at taking more World Race teams next year. Our experience with them this year was awesome. They were such a blessing to us, our kids, the farm and the community that we would love to keep having them come and help in the future. We are also looking at becoming a WWOOF host this year as well. That means we open up the farm to travelling volunteers. They get free accomodation and food in exchange for their help on the farm. This is ideal for us, as we really need the labour at the farm right now. We are just hoping we can get some accomodation up and running ASAP. When we registered for WWOOF, they also contacted us separately wanting to send a team of volunteers in January to help us set up solar power for charging phones etc.. I was completely blown away, as I didn't even know that the organisation did that! It would be absolutely incredible to be able to have some solar power here. We have looked into solar power a number of times, but it was way beyond our budget, and running home to charge stuff has been working fine. Prayer Points - that John and I make wise choices in regards to the farm and parenting the boys - that the farm prospers and starts to make a profit - that God is glorified in our community and His love shines through us.

Why are John and I running this farm?Why do these kids need help?Why should other people part with their hard earned money to help kids from another country?Why should people support us?

As I started typing this, I thought I couldn’t answer all of the questions comprehensively, in fact with some of the questions I actually debate with myself both sides as I see the Pro’s and Con’s. I guess that’s the benefit of a “Thinker” personality. You can see the logic and pretty much end up wining and losing every debate as you see both sides.

BUT at the end of the day, the answer to every question is and always be GOD.

Why are John and I running this farm?We started this farm because God told us to. We had and still have no idea about what direction God will take this farm, but we are waiting on him and are willing to see where He takes us. Already he has stretched us to our human limits, and we know He’ll keep doing it. Yes, sometimes I want to cry and run home to Daddy. Its hard. Its really hard. Physically its a huge adjustment to live in a bamboo hut without electricity, running hot water, or a gas stove. Emotionally it is even worse. We are “parenting” four teenage boys that we really don’t know all that well. So teenage boys are hard enough to read, but when they come to you at 16-18years every day is spent trying to read them and how much you can ask of them. Plus another culture altogether. So yeah I often as myself WHYYYYY are we doing this?? Are we INSANE? Maybe a little bit.. but our Faith in God is why we are here.

Why do these kids need help?The kids living with us could survive without us. They would either go home or maybe live with friends. But both John and I saw what they could become with the support of a family. We saw strong men of God willing to stand up in their community and give all the Glory to God. We weren’t willing to let them go without a fight. That’s why we support them in their schooling, apprenticeships and work. Not because we had the cash just sitting around, but because we felt GOD told us to.

Why should other people part with their hard earned money to help kids from another country?This question is a tricky one if you don’t trust God with your money. There are so many arguments about supporting problems in your home country vs other countries. There are third world countries that need so much more help than Thailand. Trust me, many times I’ve asked God to take me to a war stricken country where I can be a nurse and feel useful. But GOD has us here. He asked us to help these kids. If you trust God with your money, all you need to do is ask Him where you should give it, and that solves that question neatly.

Why should people support us?I hate this question. So much. What I really want to say is they shouldn’t. We don’t need it as much as others. We want to be sustainable, so we need to stop relying on donations and support ourselves.Unfortunately for my pride, God has other ideas. At the beginning of this year we lost our 2 main supporters due to unforeseen circumstances. GULP. Then a month later we took in the 3 boys, then 3 months later another. GULP GULP HYPERVENTILATE. Yep. Its kind of laughable. Not only was the majority of our support gone, but we had 4 more very hungry mouths to feed, school fees, clothes, and so much more. Ohhh God. Always one to test Faith. I can be honest and say there were many times my faith wavered. I started looking for ways to make money quickly. I tried to take God’s role and solve the problem. I was even going to shave my head to raise the money for our car because I was out of ideas. I would still totally do it, but a friend suggested it may be slightly offensive to the “shave for a cure”. Luckily I have people around me who think of stuff like that and keep me out of too much trouble.But at the end of the day John and I had to sit down and listen to His words. This is His farm. We are His kids. These boys are the apple of His eye. We need to let go and let Him lead us. There shall be no worry. He will always provide. Whether its free vegetables for dinner or a random donation from a friend back home, He has our backs. And do you know what? He has provided each and every time. He has provided finances, a car, food, friends and more. Yes sometimes He likes to leave it until the last minute, but He’s there and our faith is stronger than ever.

I don’t why I wrote this blog. I’m assuming there’s a reason. Maybe its for you? Maybe I needed to let it out? And I don’t know what questions you have in your mind right now, but I can tell you that God not only HAS the answer, but IS THE ANSWER. For me, I follow His Peace. For you it might be different, but I can tell you that there is nothing like living in the Grace of God.

If anyone every has any questions about us, the farm or anything at all, please comment as sometimes I find it really hard to come up with new things to write about. ​Heidi xo

Well this past month has been one of sickness for us. Our entire family smashed by a vicious virus of some sort left us back at the house feeling sorry for ourselves for about a week. Theres nothing like knowing how much work there is to be done on the farm and not being able to drive out there , let alone do anything! Just to give you an idea I normally drive between 60-80kms/hr on my bike and when I was sick I couldn't drive over 30km/hr as I had that little energy! Not a good feeling. But we are back on our feet again and are back into work as usual.

​This month unfortunately has brought many goodbyes for me, having 4 good friends leave Thailand either to go home or to move to other countries to work with Destiny Rescue. The hardest one will be Stef. She has been living with us this month, and next week moves over to India to work as a Case Worker there. I am so excited for her as I know that she has a huge heart for India, and God has been preparing her for this for a long time. I am really excited to see her in her element over there. But the farm will really miss her, as she has been a big part of the farm this past year. She has worked hard, played hard and run many awesome worship nights around big bonfires. Stef - you will be missed! Even though my life brings lots of goodbyes, they never get easier. I am very thankful for how easy communication is these days.

Some exciting news for us! We have found a car for the farm. It was actually quite a feat as John ended up being quite specific with what he wanted. Granted, he spoke to many experts and mechanics. Anyway, we have found a Toyota Vigo (about 12 years old) 4 door, 4WD, 3000cc motor with less than 200,000km/s on the odometer. I have been looking for over a month, and I can tell you that they are not easy to find! So Dad has taken out a loan in AUS, and we will be buying it in the next week. All up it is about $16,000AUD. We have already had a few donations towards this car already, but still have a long way to go. If you would like to put some money towards it, please just donate through the website with "car" as the heading, or get the money to Dad somehow. I always feel so weird asking for money - and this time is no different. But I can tell you - this car is very much needed. We have worn out our welcome borrowing all our friends utes, and a farm without a ute is very painful. It looks like a motorbike with a flimsy little trailer behind it and many many trips!

So our rice is looking good. We have been weeding the rice paddies this past week. A bit annoying thats for sure. Everyone else in the area sprays their weeds before they plant the rice, so they have these perfect looking fields. Ours on the other hand, in all their organic glory, are filled with all sorts of grasses and water reeds. Naughty weeds trying to steal all our rice's nutrients! Our fields don't look anywhere near as pretty, but I am fervently praying over them a good harvest as I get a bit worried as I am not a very good rice farmer. I have been fertilising it quite regularly with a local organic rice fertiliser, as well as chicken, duck, turkey and pig poop. Its too early to tell, but the plants are looking mostly happy.

If you keep up to date with us on facebook and instagram, you will have seen the baby ducks! One mother sat on almost 20 eggs herself and hatched 16 baby ducks! I am quite impressed to say the least. Hopefully she will be a good mumma and most of those cuties will survive.

A month or so ago Nakong was blessed with some cash to help him build a small little house for himself on the farm. So far he has the concrete posts up and we have bought the steel for the roof framework. We have had a lot of problems with him over the past year, and we are praying that having his own house will give him a bit of stability and will help him mature as well. To be honest, I'm a bit jealous that he will get a proper house before me, but good things come to those who wait right?

We should have a busy few months coming up. I think all 7 of our goats are pregnant and will give birth over the next 2 months. Also our pig is due to have her piglets next month. So hopefully the farm will be filled with little babies, bringing us closer the the ever elusive sustainability that we are striving for. I think we will sell all the goats born this year - unless the baby girl goats show particular good breeding. We will probably sell most of the piglets, but maybe keep a few for fattening and/or breeding.

Church is going great. We go to a little church run by the Bethany Childrens Home. The pastors there are wonderful, and we are building great relationships with everyone there. Most importantly, there are lots of teenagers there, which is great for our boys.

​Sorry that my updates are few and far between! I hope you follow us on facebook for more regular updates. Please keep in contact with us if you can - it means more than you will ever know!

- Prayer points - 1. Good harvest for the pomelos this year.2. Lots of healthy happy baby goats and piglets.3. Health of all of us and our animals.4. Pray for our kids that they listen to us and really make good life choices. 5. Finances. That we are always able to financially support us and all the kids in our care.

Its that time of year again and the rains are here so it is time for RICE PLANTING. AGAIN. Ha. Its a tedious job, but if you want to eat rice I guess you gotta grow it. We are still using the SRI method of planting. Yes I am still the laughingstock of the local community, but I am biding my time and know one day they will see that caring for the earth in an organic way increases the yield and quality of the produce. Basically we are planting a single seedling of rice instead of a handful of older seedlings like the locals. and we aren't using weed killer or chemical fertiliser. But we are already getting some local recognition which is great!

I'm not sure if any of you remember Ben - he worked for us last year when we started the farm. He is coming back to work for us starting on Sunday. Its great to have the extra help, but also more of a financial burden for us. He was pretty desperate, so we couldn't say no - and we really need the extra pair of hands - especially this wet season and the crazy rate at which the weeds and grass grow.

We also have another young boy from another foundation who is going to start to come out regularly for "farm therapy". He has run out of options, so we are happy to provide him with a safe place to learn some skills and work ethic. He is excited to work with the animals - especially the chickens, goats and ducks.

Personally we are still going through a tough season. Rebellious teenagers are always a riot, and adding that to financial, emotional and spiritual stressors makes for a fun mix. But we are staying strong in our faith and strong in the knowledge that we are doing what God wants us to do. At the end of the day, He is all that mattes and we glorify him in all we do.

I have turned into a full farm girl. Dirty day in, day out. I've been cutting grass these past few days up on the tops of the hills and it is a rough job. I'm waiting to see my massive muscles develop. Right now I'm just a sore, broken old woman!

Thank you everyone for your prayers. We love you all and are so excited for how God will use this blessed land.

There have been many times lately where I feel all out of love. I'm giving, giving, giving and it gets to the point where I feel so empty it hurts. This is a hard challenge for me. I know my strength and love comes from the Lord, but sometimes I desperately want it to come from those that I am pouring it into.

This has been an interesting week for me. So many emotional ups and downs that I feel like I am being played like a fiddle. One of our boys knows that I love him dearly and also has a tendency towards manipulation. Even though I see it for what it is, I still choose to love him, give to him and stand up for him. But standing by and watching him make unwise decisions this week almost ruined me. I don't know how other parents do it. I know prayer is always the answer but there was a few times when I thought causing him physical pain might also be a good option.

I take my hat off to every parent who has ever watched a child make poor decisions. Its a terrible feeling. I've only known this kid for a year and I felt like my insides were being torn out with grief. I guess when God gives you a Mother's love - He gives it to you good. Worst part is I feel like this is only the beginning for this kid. We've got a long road ahead of us and I'm praying for strength, trust, faith and love.

After a very painful trip back (just imagine a very sick family with ear infections and 24 hours of travelling), we are finally back in Thailand and on the farm. Its always hard coming back. Hard to leave our friends and family. Hard to come back to a farm that has been in the hands of people who don't care about it as much as we do. Hard to come back to a land that has been stricken by drought and bush fires. But thankfully the rain has started and my hands and feet are dirty once again.

This month sees a​nother boy move in with us. He and Lijoo start back at college next week. We had been praying the God would use our house to bless others, and finally that time has come. We are not sure how long we can support these boys financially - but at least they will have a good home close to their college and plenty of food. Thats more than a lot of kids get here. And we love (ok - sometimes HATE) living by faith. But we pray that we can teach these kids how much our Father loves them just by how He provides us our every day needs. He is kind. He is faithful. He is our provider.

Coming back starts a whole new chapter for me. I am no longer working as a case worker, leaving me with TIME. Time to work on the farm, take care of my family, spend time with our kids, teach more gardening and health with rescue girls and much much more. It is such a blessing to be able to have a visa that allows me to do this. I think the boys at the farm will appreciate it too, as often I would leave instructions on what to do, go to work and then come back and pull out my hair because they had done the opposite. Ha. I love Thailand.Here are a few things we have been working on already: 1. Fixing the Solar powered electric fence for the goats (thanks gumtree for the second hand fencing)

2. Cleaning up the vegetable patch and planting new seeds

Heres some other pics just from around the farm

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great day and please keep us in your prayers.Prayers specifically for:1. ID's for our kids2. Good crops and healthy animals3. John and I to be able to love these kids as Jesus would4. A reliable ute for the farm​5. Wisdom and faithKeep your eyes on eternity and the kingdom. Its all for His Glory. ​Love The Sops

Some good, some bad, but excitingly for us it has meant two teenage boys moving in with us full time! We have welcomed Nakong and Lijoo into our family with open arms, and they will be living and working supervised at the farm while we are in Australia for the next two months. ​Lijoo is turning 18 tomorrow, and we have known him for the past 7-8 years. He will be continuing his Electricians Degree when the school opens up in June/July and will then live at our house in town during the week. Amazingly his College is about 2 minutes from our house so it works out perfectly. He is a really hard worker, funny, great with Charlotte, we love him to bits and are so excited to be able to support him through the rest of his education.

Nakong is a 16 year old who has been with us permanent part-time for the past 8 months. Unfortunately he is one of the "invisible" people in Thailand with no proof of identity. So he will live with us until we can get him some ID and then we want to help him get back into schooling. Mind you getting him ID has been verbalised by others as impossible. But we serve a God that is bigger than any ID issues, and would appreciate prayers for him and his sister's ID issues. Nakong has a dream of doing an apprenticeship in construction, and being on the farm has already taught him many new things. This kid is a hot head, hilarious, also great with charlotte, not so much of a good worker yet but he is learning the ropes and we love him as if we were our own. It will be hard to leave him for 2 months, but we are excited to see him grow and learn to take initiative.

I never once thought that my life over here would involve mothering teenage boys. Like not even a slightest mind drift in that direction. Yet here I am buying soccer boots and baking a cake for the birthday boy! I must say hanging with these kids has been some of the best times I've had in Thailand. They have stretched my heart and caused me more heartache in the past few months than I care to admit, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I love it when we have slapping wars, mud fights, sit around the fire drinking tea, work together and talk about God together. It literally brings my heart JOY. Stef - it makes my HEART SING.

Have you ever really wanted to yell and scream and fight for something so so bad it hurts? Being a very passionate person, a bit of a hot head and loyal I probably experience this feeling more frequently than most. And unfortunately this response doesn’t always work. Ok ill be honest - its rarely to helpful to a situation at all. These past 6 months John has been struggling with some depression, and even though I experienced some of the worst days of my life in there- it has taught me so much more. I learned to LOVE and not fight. Normally I run at a situation head on. However I noticed that my response only pushed him away, so I had to change my approach. Don’t get me wrong - I fought tooth and nail - but I fought by forgiving him every day for the things he said. I fought by coming home every day and not running away. I fought by saying ‘I love you’ when all I really wanted to was yell and scream and kick him where the sun don’t shine. I fought by praying with him. I fought by praising him. I fought with LOVE. I was so blessed to have others around me during this time. Others to support me, make me laugh, and fill my love tank when it was empty. This time has brought John and I closer to each other and closer to God. Insecurities are fading and the conviction of our eternal inheritance is growing stronger each day. I just felt to share this today. I know everyone has their own demons and I just think they are so much easier to fight out in the open. With Jesus and great friends and family - those demons don’t stand a chance. God is Good. He loves us and can use all things for His Glory.

We finally got to use the cob oven for pizzas! Needless to say, the adults enjoyed the pizzas more than the Rescue girls, but they seemed to like it a lot better once they got their hands on tomato sauce! By the reactions of most people who see it I think there may be an increase of cob ovens in villages around Northern Thailand. I even taught our boy how to make banana bread as he would eat a loaf a day if he could.

The farm is good. We are preparing for being back in Australia for 2 months, so finding workers, planting the rice, fertilising everything we can and finishing off buildings. I''l try to upload some photos soon.

There has been so much going on the past 2 months, that I don't think I could even remember it all let alone bore you with the details. But here are a few highlights:

Our girl has started hair school and she is rocking it!

We may be becoming guardians of 1-3 teenage boys soon.

All the kids we are helping have no or minimal ID - so please pray for favour.

I've planted SRI rice - an organic and different way of planting rice that should increase our crops, but int he meantime makes me the laughingstock of the local Thai's.

The pig is hopefully pregnant and should be due the day we fly to Australia.

We have run our first Staff Team Building day at the farm for Destiny Rescue staff, and are looking to run more in the future.

John is making excellent relationships withe the local town, and is being a real blessing to the poorer households.

Our car got T-boned by a drunk man on a motorbike while we were driving home, so it is now unroadworthy.

We were able to tap into a local water pipe so we will have enough water for our animals and vegetables in the dry season.

We are fixing the earthquake bathroom and are attempting to make it into a rammed earth/glass bottle bathroom. With a squat AND a sit toilet. Moving up in the would - one bucket of dirt at a time.

We've had some serious spiritual and emotional attacks on our family the past 6 months or so and we are finally seeing some breakthrough.

​Anyway, thats all I can think of right now. I'm going to try a different way of blogging - less writing more often? We'll see how that goes. Be blessed.​The Sops

If you keep up with our facebook page, you would know that we have been harvesting our rice last month. It is all done now, and we have about 400kg’s of rice from the harvest. That should last John a few weeks. Ha. No hopefully it should last us the better part of a year.

The girls coming out with the Destiny Rescue Learning Centre are doing well on the farm. They have started their own veggie patch and we are teaching them abour composts and organic fertilisation. Many of the Thai villagers rely solely on chemical fertilisation, which is really sad for the environment and the health of the food and the people that eat it. We are trying to teach our kids better ways to farm so that they can in turn go back and teach their families.

The young man working at the farm with job has been increased to 5 days a week and he is doing an official internship with us for 6 months to prepare him for an apprenticeship next year. His work ethic is improving slowly, and his attitude is much better. He is starting to become one of the family and we are able to trust him with more responsibility with each month. He is also eager to learn more about God and we are looking at getting him into an apprenticeship in construction.Our aim at being sustainable on the farm is getting closer! We have meat, eggs, veggies, milk, cheese and rice now. Its so nice to be eating more of our own produce, and we look forward to be able to produce all the vegetables we eat.You may remember us talking about the sister of the young man working on the farm? She is doing amazingly. I have talked to her about doing Hair School next year. Seeing as she has no ID, she must go to a non-government school. This means it has a decent fee attached. John and I are going to try and get enough money to fund it for her and then maybe build a little place for her out on the farm with a tiny salon attached. Early days yet, but so far things are looking promising!

We have been encouraged to grow a tree called the Moringa tree at our farm. It is a very special tree in that its leaves are a superfood. They can be dried and used as a tea or ground into a powder and it is becoming more and more popular. It is quick growing, drought resistant, no known pests and the seeds can be used to purify water. It can also be used as an animal feed for all of our animals. So pretty much it will bring world peace… ha. But we have been gifted with a bunch of seeds and are currently planting them. We are hoping to plant these trees over the rest of our land and use it as food for us and out animals. We are also looking into selling it for profit in Australia and the US. It seems to be a reasonably simple process, and once we get export/import sorted we should be set as we have people interested in selling it for us. Could be a good way for the farm to earn some ongoing income!

Christmas is coming so quickly and we are already planning our Christmas day with our family and all the Rescue girls unable to go home for Christmas. We will have them stay over and have special presents for them and maybe take them to the park here for some games. Its such a fun way to expand our family on Christmas day, and it means the world to us when the girls from last year ask if they can come and stay the entire Christmas Holidays! Helps us with our sadness at missing our family during this special time of year.